Friday, 15 April 2016

Last Post About Ulm

I promise this is going to be my last Ulm-post for a while! At least right now, I can't think of any reason or occasion for me to go back there again any time soon, so please bear with me and look at the last set of Ulm-pictures you'll get to see for (probably) a long time.For the Monday after class, I had deliberately chosen a train late enough to allow me some time in the city, but not so late as to arrive back home in the middle of the night.One and a half hours gave me enough time to do what I wanted to do: visit the minster and take some pictures.

I had not planned to climb the steeple this time, and I didn't, but I walked around inside the church for quite a while.There were few people about; a small group were being given a guided tour; a few visitors with cameras and some who had come in to light a candle and pray.It was quiet and peaceful inside those huge wooden doors, but also icy cold - what a contrast to the mild sunshine out on the square, and the crowds in the pedestrian zone going about their shopping and other business.Kristi, this one is for you: There was a large Lego model of the minster on display.

Venturing further in, the light became more difficult, but I hope you'll still be able to make out some of this building's magnificence:

There is a large angel with outstretched wings on the separation between the main nave and the front part of the church. I wanted to take a picture of it for my Mum, but it was just too dark in there, not even with flash did I succeed in making it visible enough. But the angel was there, Mum, and I was thinking of you!Is it a cathedral or a minster? Well, its official name is Ulmer Münster, Ulm Minster. And although sometimes it is referred to as a cathedral (because of its enormous size), it has never been the seat of a bishop and therefore it isn't a cathedral. At least that is the explanation I have found on wikipedia - you didn't expect me to know such things without looking them up, did you.The foundation stone was laid in 1377, but of course centuries passed until the minster looked the way it does now. A lot of it was finished by 1543, but the three steeples were only completed in their present form in 1890.Although much of the town was destroyed during WWII, the minster came out scarcely damaged. I am glad it is still there for us to admire and marvel at the determination and skill of the architects and craftsmen of the past.

Thank you for the lego Ulm Minster photo! There must be something in human nature that responds to such things! Do you still get notified of my blog posts, btw? I've had two with no comment from you and you are such a faithful commenter!

Yes, Kristi, I did get both notifications. I thought I had replied on the one, but I know I did not reply on the one about the steam thing. I simply didn't know what to say there, as I am not at all familiar with the topic, I'm afraid.

Certainly looks like a grand piece of architecture and well worth an extra visit. Glad you took the time! Always nice when one can take a bit of time for private sight-seeing in connection with going somewhere on business, isn't it. (Not that I can say I ever went on a lot of business trips myself... Didn't really have that sort of job!)

If at all possible, I usually try to fit some private time in with such trips, but it does not always work out. Sometimes there simply is no convenient train connection at a later hour, or the appointment/class/conference etc. takes longer than scheduled. But it all worked out as I wanted it on this trip!

There is something in the grandeur and magnificence of a building such as that which must affect even the most hardened of souls. It is impossible not to wonder at the achievements in the construction. As to how one feels inside such a building is, of course, a very personal thing. They usually affect me emotionally in a way that modern buildings, however, marvellous just do not.

It is the same for me, Graham. Modern buildings simply can't provide the same atmosphere as old churches, palaces and the like can, where we imagine the walls and columns to have witnessed so much over the centuries, and so many generations have worked, lived, prayed, laughed, argued, loved and hated in them.